Chris Frechette

I bought a set of these with nylon tips specifically for my electronic drums. I had heard that these are the best sticks on the market for playing on e-drums because the anti-vibe technology reduces the vibrations caused from hitting pads. I broke 2 pairs of sticks on my electronic kit before buying these and was shocked because I had been under the impression that it was the cymbals that did the most damage to my sticks. I learned that the sticks vibrate too when you play with them, and too much vibration can cause the stick to break (think opera singers breaking glass). This is also why I would get really nasty blisters on my hands after long sessions. When I play the drums, I tend to lose track of time and can play for 2 hours straight (or as long as my hands last before blistering up)! But now with these anti-vibe sticks, I can play a solid high-energy 2 hour session with minimal damage to my hands. The way the anti-vibe sticks is they have these foam inserts inside of the sticks that act as shock absorbers. They work just as advertised! I bought one pair of these about 6 months ago and they're still holding up just fine (I haven't used them on acoustic drums or cymbals, just the electronic pads).

The Meinl Snare Bongo Cajon is a small lightweight cajon with bongo characteristics. It is made of Siam oak and has two main striking areas for higher pitch and lower pitch, both having snare wires. This allows you to play both bongo and cajon rhythms. It sounds awesome in action! I like to take it with me when I travel because it is lightweight and easily stows away in my backpack without taking up too much space. I would say this is also a must-have if you like to have bonfires and jam out. It's nice to have one around for the percussionists!

I've owned the DW 3000 double pedal for a couple years now and after the first several months it already started to break down on me. I play with a heavy foot, but I am by no means a furious monster hitter. To me the weakest part of this pedal is the hinge that connects the pedal to the base. I've snapped that thing off on more than one occasion. I looked online and found other drummers were experiencing the same difficulty. This is because DW has cut corners to bring their gold standard pedals into a more affordable price range for the masses. I would say this is a terrific pedal if you have a light foot or if you play heel down. But my advice in the end is that if you're a serious drummer you'll end up replacing this pedal eventually anyway. Save up the money for a DW 5000, Tama Speed Cobra or Iron Cobra, Pearl Eliminator, Mapex Falcon, etc. If money is an issue check out the Tama Iron Cobra 600 series or the Speed Cobra 310. Both of those pedals are in the same price range as the DW 3000 and both are more durable pedals.

I've gone through beginner and intermediate Tama and Pearl pedals, all single chain and decent for their price range. As my skills developed I often found myself fighting with the pedal. For my first upgrade, I received as a gift a DW 3000 series double pedal and was very happy with it at first. DW is by many considered to be the golden standard when it comes to drums and drum hardware. The DW 3000 was fast, smooth, and more durable than my older pedals. It has a solid dual chain and really packs a punch. But after several months of usage, I found parts of the pedal began wearing down fast and in some instances breaking. The part I hate the most about the 3000 is the cheap hinge that attaches the pedal to the base. I have broken this piece twice and was on the verge of it breaking again before I decided to wise up and buy something that will last and won't hinder my drumming progress. I walked into my local guitar center looking to find a professional quality pedal that won't break the bank. I tried every pedal they had on display and kept coming back to the same one: the Tama Speed Cobra. What can I say, it lives up to its name and reputation. Playing the Speed Cobra is like driving a Ferrari. As soon as I placed my foot on the pedal I was able to squeeze out fast doubles with ease and basically fly with it! It is just as good, if not better than the flagship DW 9000 and for a considerably more affordable price! I also really like the feel of the longboard. Whether you play heel up, heel down, heel toe, slide, swivel, all techniques feel easier to me on this pedal. I highly recommend it to all players in all genres!

The Shure SE215SPE is a special edition release version of the SE215 models. Unlike the regular SE215 which come in black or clear, these special editions come in translucent blue and were only available for limited time in Japan. I managed to buy a pair of these on Amazon and I am simply blown away by the sound quality of these earphones. I managed to get a hold of regular SE215 to compare and there is a noticeable difference. The special edition blues have a considerable enhanced low end boost over the regulars. I am a bass lover and these sound perfect to me! You get just enough bass without it becoming too overpowering and muddy like Beats by Dre. All in all these earphones are PERFECT!

I bought this used for under $100 when my Swingstar snare broke the day before a show. It's a 14x5.5 drum with 6 plies of birch and sounds bright and punchy and much cleaner sounding than my stock Swingstar snare. This is a versatile drum that can be used for a wide variety of genres.

The Evans ECS2 are 2ply heads with an internal dampening ring which gives a controlled focused attack, but still allowing the fundamental tone to shine with just enough sustain without too many of the unwanted overtones. These heads are roughly the equivalent of the Remo Pinstripes, however, I've found the Pinstripes to be too dull and dead sounding. I like to tune my drums towards the lower end but to still have resonance and sustain and not sound too thuddy. These ECS2's offer a wider tuning range than the pinstripes and are my favorite heads I've played with to date. On top of that all, they're also easy to tune!

When it comes to electronic drum kits, it really is a 2 horse race between Roland and Yamaha. Now while the flagship Roland is leaps and bounds ahead of everyone, the same cannot be said of the mid range kits. This Yamaha DTX562K comes with far more features than its closest Roland counterpart. Combine that with the cheaper price tag and I was sold on this kit! The DTX562K comes with the 502 module, which is USB/MIDI compatible so you can easily hook it up to your laptop for recording purposes and/or for triggering. The module comes in a convenient size with a clamp that you can easily attack to your hi-hat so that you can add your trigger pads to your acoustic kit to make it a versatile hybrid. The module comes with 50 preset drum kits and storage space for 50 custom kits. What I found that really impressed me is that some of the preset kits are actual studio quality VST's recorded from the top of the line Yamaha kits. So you're actually hearing sampled audio from Yamaha Maple Customs, Oak Customs, Beech, and Birch kits. The Rolands don't have that so this is a huge plus. I also find the Yamaha pads to be overall superior to the Roland counterparts. Instead of mesh, the 3 toms and 1 snare pad feature silicone heads that mimic the bounciness of real drums without the trampoline over-bounciness of the mesh heads. The cymbal pads are also all triple zone (edge, bow, bell) and are chokeable. On top of that, the kit comes with a REAL hi hat stand! This is a feature normally only found in high end models, but Yamaha managed to bring it down to this mid-level kit! While the tom pads are single zone, the snare pad is triple zone giving you different sounds on the head, rim clicks, and rim shots. My only complaint is the kick tower, which is plain rubber and doesn't have that nice silicone surface. The rubber started to wear away from my pedal, but that small issue was solved with a bass drum patch. All in all I am very satisfied with the quality and performance of the Yamaha DTX562K. The combination of high-end features at an affordable price range was just too good to pass up for me. I compared this kit with all the other mid range kits in Yamaha, as well as Roland, Simmons, and Kat Percussion. Out of every kit I tested this one was the winner!

Easily my favorite cymbal. This perfect blend of B20 cast bronze and silver has a bright, shimmering quality with a fast attack that will cut through just about anything. This is comparable to the Zildjian A Customs (superior in my opinion), so if you like bright, glassy crash cymbals give this one a try.

I got a 5 piece in midnight blue in 2004 as my first kit. The Philippine mahogany shells are a step up over other beginner drum kits in this price range that use basswood shells. I switched out all the stock heads for Evans and it sounds alright! In my experience, these shells sound best tuned on the low end, as is expected with mahogany. The sizes are 22x18 kick, 14x5.5 snare, 12x9 13x10 toms, 16x16 floor, and are best suited for rock but can be used for other styles.